Windstorm destroys nest, eggs on Journal goosecam

The goose that viewers of the goosecam have named Patience sits in her nest atop straw bales on a farm on the edge of Edmonton, April 18, 2013.

Photograph by: Bruce Edwards
, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - The Edmonton Journal’s goosecam is off-air after a windstorm scattered the nest and crushed the eggs on Saturday evening.

Bruce Edwards, a Journal photographer, found the remains of the nest on the farm west of Edmonton where the goose settled each year.

“A sudden gust of wind blew over the 800-pound straw bale the goose had nested on,” Edwards said. “The nest and eggs fell to the ground.”

The five eggs in the nest were broken and crushed in the fall.

The mother Goose, named Patience by online viewers, was not hurt and may eventually pick another place to nest.

For the time being, the Journal goosecam is not operational.

Winds in Edmonton and the surrounding area gusted up to 90 kilometres an hour through the day and evening, according to Environment Canada.

This year’s goosecam, an annual livestream of a goose and her eggs, went live on April 18. The goosecam was in its sixth year, returning every spring. In that time, 23 goslings have hatched.

Before the wind overturned the equipment, a camera also took still photos and tweeted those photos every few minutes with the current temperature and humidity on-site.

Edwards said the goose and gander arrived at the farm on April 1 and made a nest high up on a bale in a covered shed on the property. It was her highest nest yet, more than four metres off the ground.

The goose laid the first egg on April 11. Usually, she would then sit on her nest almost continually until thee eggs hatch between 25 and 28 days later.

ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS:

EDMONTON — The star of the Journal goosecam has returned to a farm on the western edge of Edmonton and has so far laid five eggs.

Journal photographer Bruce Edwards set up a video camera to livestream her progress April 18, and Ms. Goose will tweet updates as she tends her eggs over the next few weeks until they hatch.

“Happy the government is freezing tuition," she tweeted from @JournalGoosecam, referring to Premier Alison Redford's announcement. "You have NO idea how expensive gosling post-secondary education is.”

This year, a robotic camera dubbed Goosebot by its creator, Ryan Jackson, will take still photos of the goose every two minutes, and tweet them along with the current temperature and humidity on site. It's a way to help viewers understand what the goose goes through during spring's typical weather extremes, said Jackson, a multimedia photojournalist at the Journal.

Wildly keen Goosecam fans can see every Goosebot photo via @EJ_Goosebot, or just check in from time to time using our web app, InstaGoose.

Jackson also upgraded the livestream quality and software to allow viewers to watch on mobile phones and iPads, but he recommends they check their data plans if they aren’t connected with Wi-Fi.

Edwards said the goose and gander arrived at the farm April 1 and made a nest high up on a bale in a covered shed on the property. It’s their highest nest yet, more than four metres off the ground.

The goose laid the first egg on April 11. She normally lays one a day, up to about six eggs, then sits on her nest almost continually until they hatch between 25 and 28 days later.

The day after they hatch, the mother goose will fly down to the ground and call her goslings to jump after her. Then the whole family will waddle to the pond together.

This is Edwards' sixth year running the goosecam and in that time he's seen 23 goslings hatch and march off to the pond. The geese also adopted four chicks last year which had been rescued by a wildlife society.

He tries to stay out of the way and bother the geese as little as possible, but loves watching how the male and female interact and care for their young.

"I was surprised at how smart they are and how they co-operate," said Edwards, a 54-year-old photographer who has been with the Journal for 32 years.

Each year, the gander checks out the route to the pond the day before the family leaves, then comes back and communicates to the goose when it's time to go.

He helps shoo the goslings out of the nest and solves problems, getting the family around fences and other tricky objects in their way.

"They seem to be capable of a lot more than I thought they would be. Some people might just say that it's instincts, but I think it's more than that," Edwards said, reflecting on the many hours he's spent watching the geese.

"People might not have thought that geese were very smart, but my thinking over the years is that people tend to base animal intelligence on how human-like they are, which is not really the way to judge them.

"There's a lot more to intelligence than just whether you're able to fetch a ball."

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